Vanuatu leaders in New Zealand talk cannabis, seasonal workers and cyclones

Vanuatu is relying on New Zealand’s expertise in medical cannabis production to bolster its own market.

While the Melanesian nation has twice topped the Happy Planet Index as the happiest place in the world, it remains one of the world’s most vulnerable to climate impacts.

The country’s political landscape has been turbulent in recent years, with the constant change of prime ministers in 2023 putting the nation on edge.

Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, who was elected for a second time last October after his predecessor lost a no-confidence vote, made an official visit to New Zealand this week.

As part of his trip, he toured Puro’s state-of-the-art cannabis growing facility in Kēkerengū on Tuesday.

The implementation of Vanuatu’s 2018 medical cannabis legislation took a while, but Salwai is optimistic about economic development.

New Zealand has a mature medical cannabis industry. Business company because Legalization in 2020.

Salwai said cannabis can be grown “easily” across Vanuatu.

“The plant is found everywhere in the village but we don’t want to plant the wrong kind as it is against the law.”

He said visiting the cannabis farm “intrigued” him.

“They know the benefits of this cannabis,” he said.

“We need to invite people who have knowledge about this, and the purpose of growing this cannabis is worthy of attention.

“We invite them to come to Vanuatu to do a small scale test to see and compare the quality of the product we produce in Vanuatu because here (New Zealand) it is seasonal, whereas in Vanuatu it grows all year round.

“Comparatively speaking, the quality is pretty good.”

He said Vanuatu was interested in issuing medical cannabis production licences to those who understood the “purpose of cultivation”.

The lows and highs of seasonal workers

In June this year, Luxon said He wants to double it – The number of seasonal workers from RSE program participating countries increased from 19,000 to about 38,000, including Vanuatu, Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Nauru.

According to analysis by Australian academics Professor Paresh Narayan and Dr Bernard Njindan Iyke, in 2022-2023, about 47,800 Pacific Islanders travelled to New Zealand or Australia for seasonal work under various labour mobility schemes. 360 Information.

Vanuatu has a higher proportion of seasonal workers in New Zealand More than 5,000 in 2022.

Labour Commissioner Murielle Meltenoven warned at the time that the domestic labour market was worried about a “brain drain”.

Salwai hinted at a possible internal review of the Vanuatu Seasonal Worker Program with Australia and New Zealand.

He ended his trip to New Zealand with RSE workers, which was the focus of Luxon’s discussion.

Responding to a question on whether his counterpart’s plan to double the number of RSEs was realistic, he said: “We need to discuss this, not with New Zealand, but within Vanuatu itself.”

He said Vanuatu had a small population of about 300,000 people and doubling the number of RSE workers to New Zealand would also affect the country’s workforce.

She acknowledged, however, that the regional labour scheme was bringing in much-needed remittances and helping many families.

“(RSE) provides their children with the opportunity to go to school, be involved in a development, build a new home or start a business.

“What we’re concerned about is what’s also happening in the Pacific … even well-educated people are taking advantage of the same opportunities to look for work outside the country.”

Deep sea mining

Meanwhile, Vanuatu Strong opposition to deep-sea miningthere is legislation allowing for the issuance of deep sea mining exploration licenses.

Sarawai said Vanuatu was in the line of fire and there were environmental risks underwater.

“As a nation, we need to understand what’s beneath and within our waters” and the “opportunities in our airspace.”

“We can allow (deep-sea) exploration, but to actually do it is another question,” he said, adding that “we are not getting what we should be getting in our own airspace”.

‘We lost all the beauty of the island’

More than a year after the twin devastation of cyclones Judy and Kevin, Vanuatu is rebuilding, but not necessarily for the better.

Salwai said people whose homes were destroyed felt they had been lost for the rest of their lives.

He said what is irreplaceable is land.

He said hurricanes and rising sea levels have destroyed beaches across Vanuatu:

“I’m worried that we’re going to lose all the beauty of the islands and our children, our grandchildren tomorrow, won’t be able to see it.

“Maybe, we’ll see it in pictures, but not in reality.”